Shadow Boxing

To work on footwork, one partner is deemed the leader, the other the follower. The footwork of the follower is dependent on the movements of the leader. In other words, the follower attempts to maintain a constant distance between him or herself and the partner. If the leader moves forward, the follower must move back. If the leader moves back, the follower must move forward. Side to side and angular movements should also be used.

To add strikes, the leader simply opens a target area for his partner to strike. This works best if the targets are made obvious by exaggerated movements of the leader. The strikes may be prearranged or mixed up at random.

Students should continually strive to increase the speed and accuracy of their techniques while performing these drills. An improvement in coordination will be felt by the students after just a few rounds of these shadow boxing drills. Another benefit is the cardio vascular workout provided by extended rounds of shadow boxing. The greatest advantage that shadow boxing has over other types of sparring drills is that it may be performed solo. This permits students to improve their sparring skills at home without having to find training partners.

At home, students may stand in front of a mirror and shadow box themselves. Adding music keeps the drills from becoming boring.